Rise of the Titan
by CrisisExceed
Summary: When an ancient legend threatens the world, a hand full of champions must step up to fight against it. Each must make a choice to save themselves or save the world. (Rating may change)
1. Enemies Unknown in the Crystal Scar

Author's note: This is my first League of Legends fanfic so please be gentle.

Chapter 1

Enemies Unknown in the Crystal Scar

They all sat around what felt like their final moments about to crash upon them. The hopes of the people, their dreams and their faith were riding on the small group of champions that decided to face their fears. Would this be the end of the world, would they be able to save Runeterra or even save themselves. Talon picked up a stick poking at the campfire they had set up as it looked like it was about to die down. The only thing that kept them company was the sweet sounds of Sona stroking her elegant instrument and the soft glow of the sunset. The insufferable silence of everyone had finally reached Twisted Fate as he got up from the small camp they had made to step away. He was shortly followed by Prince Jarvan and Queen Ashe who followed him to the edge of the lake they were camped out by.

"No turning back," said Jarvan looking down at Twisted Fate who had sat himself on the beach shuffling his deck of tarot cards.

The fortune teller spread out three cards in front of him, explaining to the two that the first card represented the past, the middle represented the present, and last card represented the future. Jarvan and Ashe sat next to both his sides watching him as he flipped over the first card. It revealed the Moon card.

"Our past is represented by the Moon, to show us the fears and doubts that we had and our clouded judgement of our journey."

* * *

Looking down the lane of Summoner's Rift with his lance tight in hand, Prince Jarvan Lightshield IV had one goal in mind: to take the Nexus. For now he and his allies, one of which was his childhood friend Garen Crownguard, was stuck defending their own Inhibitor from the incoming minion wave that had stood before them. His dark hair being blown around by the cool autumn air that was cast over Valoran, as he cast his lance upon more minions in purple garbs eagerly trying to make their mark on their open inhibitor. Jarvan heaved his lance over his shoulder with a deep breath as the minion wave was finally cleared. Looking over towards the middle lane he sighed in relief that a turret still stood. He couldn't recall how exactly they had gotten in this predicament but they were in it now and nothing could change what was to come. It was until a young man came running to Jarvan's side to let him know of his discovery. The boy's name was Ezreal, a young man who was known for mapping the entire underground of Piltover's caverns, pointed out that he had found a woman with long red hair setting up an ambush just over the wall. Jarvan and Garen looked at each other seeing the opportunity to turn the battle around.

Jarvan turned to Ezreal, "Hold the minions from taking our Inhibitor," giving the boy knew that this was the last chance they had but if they could stop Katarina, who was the enemy team's leader, they might have a chance at winning the battle. With weapons in hand the two were off without another word. Before the woman knew she was surrounded on both side by the two Demacian knights. She gritted her teeth knowing she was in for a fight. She knew she'd have no back up from her allies and that she was on her own. Jarvan had nothing to say to her. He remembered her back in his captivity in Noxus, and remembered just how ruthless she could be. He remembered another Noxian being under her control that he had seen once or twice during the battle and was worried that he could be around. He knew that Katarina had two choices: Fight them or run...and Jarvan had a plan to prevent her from running.

After a silent stare down between the three Katarina finally raised her blades realizing that she wasn't going to be getting out of this predicament. Both knights saw this and raised their weapons as well. Looking back and forth between her attackers, Katarina saw Jarvan as the easier target. Jarvan raised his lance to block Katarina's first attack, as Garen came from behind to charge her. With swift grace Katarina dodged Garen's blade that was coming down to strike her from behind, and bounced off the young's prince's lance. Katarina smirked throwing both men off balance. Looking over Katarina saw a familiar ally in his famous purple garb waiting to hit them as well. The red haired assassin threw one of her blades at the two to get their attention before taking off into the jungle. Jarvan would not stand for this and chased after her despite Garen's protest.

Jarvan was determined to find her and found both assassins, but something was off. It was as if both had been frozen in place by something shocking. They were both staring up at the sky behind Jarvan when he finally saw what it was that was passing over their heads. Jarvan couldn't believe what he saw, a beam of light passing over their heads and passing completely over Summoner's Rift. The four knew that couldn't have been a natural phenomenon. Jarvan has his attention grabbed by another, the same boy he told to defend their base Ezreal. By the look on the boy's face the Demacian prince knew that the Prodigal Explorer couldn't believe what he had just seen. Jarvan turned to face Katarina and Talon once more, he nodded his head as a sign that he knew this battle wasn't going to continue on much longer. Not after what they had just seen. The warriors each returned to their respective base, as one by one they were summoned back to the grand hall of the institute where the summoners would gather to take control of their chosen champion for the fields of justice.

Everyone looked at each other dumbfounded by what they had just seen. Still everyone remained silent as if no one wanted to talk about the mysterious light. Quickly Katarina and Talon left the room not too far after was the rest of their team. Jarvan and Garen noticed two members of their team leave, and Ezreal still remained. Finally the boy broke the silence that was shrouding the room.

"What. Was. That?" spoke up Ezreal, with a hint of panic in his voice. It was obvious that the boy was trying to hide his feelings about the ordeal but failing at it. The fact was although both Garen and Jarvan seemed a bit more cool about the situation they too were in a panic.

Jarvan placed a hand on the boy's shoulder to try and reassure him, "I don't think anyone knows. But we're not going to find out standing here." The three opened the large double doors of the grand hall as the murmurs of summoners got a little louder. Looking out at the large lobby of the institute summoners were running around back and forth in a panic. Ezreal looked at Jarvan bowing his head in respect before running off to find out what was going on. Jarvan and Garen looked at each other running in the opposite direction of Ezreal to find out what had happened. Never before had either man seen the institute in such distress. Everything had seemed in such disarray which was a first, because everything was usually kept very neat and organized despite having over one hundred champions to look over.

Finally the two stopped over hearing two lowly summoners talking to one another. Like Ezreal earlier they took had panic in their voices. "Everyone has been saying the Crystal Scar got destroyed." said the skinny summoner in dark purple robes. "Wasn't there a match going on there?" responded the larger summoner in dark blue robes.

Jarvan and Garen looked once more at each other starting to become overwhelmed with their sense to protect people. Without any words that need to be spoken the two took off back to the grand hall. It seemed the hall was empty now except for one. He was a larger man in the garb of one of the three grand summoners, and overseers of the Institute of War. He turned around to greet the two men. Jarvan always shuddered at the presence of the grand summoners. If they had the power to stop a long war between the superpowers of Valoran: Demacia and Noxus, he didn't want to find out what other powers they were capable of. Jarvan nor Garen had moved an inch since the grand summoner turned his attentions to the two. For the grand summoner he too wore robes similar to the others only his robe was black and trimmed with gold around the sleeves and the center. On the back of his robe also in gold was the symbol of the institute. It was hard to believe such an old man bent with age was so powerful, but to Jarvan that must have been his entire life's studies considering how old the man was. Taking a deep breath Jarvan finally spoke.

"We heard what happened about the Crystal Scar." said the Demacian prince.

The grand summoner nodded his head in response before speaking. "There are still champions trapped, but all our attempts to reach them have failed. Something is blocking us."

"Then summon us there!" Jarvan quickly responded with the worry of his fellow champions rising. "We'll save them." The grand summoner jumped a touch at the rise in Jarvan voice. But he could sense the determination of the two men. He could tell they were being serious about rescuing the trapped champions. He couldn't help but chuckle a moment.

"The future of Demacia is in good hands." he responded and sent them away with a quick wave of his arm.

The feeling of being summoned to the Field of Justice always sent a chill down Jarvan's spine. Never does his body feel so light to a point where he feels like he's going to fade out of consciousness, but before his body can relax and get used to the feeling, his body grows heavy and his feet touching solid ground. Jarvan inspected what was around him, his fears were correct. The Crystal Scar was almost completely destroyed, and roaming around were small black creatures. Jarvan looked around, many of the capture points were falling apart anything that was a rune on the ground was destroyed. It was as if whoever it was that was trapped here, they didn't want escaping. He turned his attentions to the small black creatures that were swarming around the center. The creatures were none like he'd ever seen. They were probably no bigger than three feet tall and were all black with two legs and no arms. They looked like they were dripping leaving black footprints everywhere they walked. Jarvan looked at the patterns in which they were moving. They were headed for a bright blue bubble in the center. Jarvan headed for the blue bubble. Some of the creatures waited for the two men at the bottom of the ramp. The small group was no problem for the two men it was the many more that got in their path that started to wear the two men down. After battling the many hordes was when they reached the center of the field.

Finally with the small breather Jarvan had he looked at what was the bubble. He took note that the black creatures were smashing into it like they were trying to break it. Every time one splattered itself on to the bubble Jarvan cringed at the screeching sound they made upon death. It was as if the bubble was burning them alive. Inspecting it further he noticed two figures were inside. One was sprawled out on the thrashed ground bloodied with injuries, and the other looked like he was the one holding out the magic field. Immediately he recognized the two as fellow champions of the league. He started to wonder, seeing as how the creatures died instantly upon touch of the field, how did the Card Master know what magic could stop them and where did he obtain such power. Jarvan was only aware of the gypsy's power to teleport short distances, but never had he seen something such as the magic field. The Demacian prince was slightly ashamed of himself for not recognizing them upon looking. He tried to get to know all the champions weather they were friend or foe. People always knew the Card Master by his signature wide brimmed hat and his calm demeanor that made it seem as if he was uncaring, but seeing him actually protecting a fellow champion was new, nonetheless a Demacian champion. Jarvan wanted to grab his attention but he seemed pretty focused on the card he was holding that was glowing a bright blue that matched the bubble.

Jarvan was amazed at the magic that had him memorized. He had never seen such powerful magic before, but nonetheless would have expected it from Twisted Fate. To Jarvan the man was still a mystery and didn't really know what it he is capable of. Jarvan was determined to get to the bottom of this, and wanted to know what these creatures were or even what they wanted with the fortune teller. He looked over at Garen to get his assessment on the situation only to see that Garen was pointing to the larger crowd of the creatures headed for them. Both men raised their weapons preparing for a fight. The ones that lept for Jarvan instantly were impaled by his mighty lance, as Garen cut more down with one swing of his sword. The more they cut down the more showed up, and the two started to show signs of exhaustion. Jarvan looked at Twisted Fate who looked like he was starting to struggle with holding the bubble up. The two nodded at each other, as Twisted Fate started to chant something in what Jarvan recognized to be a dead language. The fortune teller grabbed the card that floated in front of him and threw it to the ground, making the bubble sink into the ground and sending out a menacing shockwave that extended all the way to the edges of the battleground killing every creature along the way.

Twisted Fate fell to his knees catching his breath. The spell had left him a little drained, and breathless. "That's one problem solved," he said calmly slowly getting up. After finally getting up and brushing the dust and dirt off him and his hat, he hastily looked behind him to see if the person he was protecting was okay. The fortune teller ran to her aid knowing the length of her injuries were deadly. Jarvan and Garen ran over to recognizing the victim right away. Everyone always knew her by her silver armor and dark hair, but she was more known for her exquisite skills with the rapier and her sharp tongue. Normally the Grand Duelist was full of elegance, and energy but in her current state, it was all lost due to her extensive injuries. Jarvan and Garen ran to the aid of their fellow Demacian. "She's still breathing," said Twisted Fate, as he brushed more dust off his hat before placing it neatly back on his head. "And I've done all I can. My magic is not enough for her condition."

Jarvan could tell just by looking at the fortune teller that he too was exhausted and tired. Unlike Twisted Fate the Demacian prince has seen many battles and could always tell when his soldiers were at their limits, Twisted Fate was no different. Although the fortune teller tried to hide it, Jarvan wasn't blind and also could tell Twisted Fate was injured in this mess. More and more as Jarvan analyzed the situation and the current state of the Crystal Scar his opinions started to change on Twisted Fate. He always thought of the fortune teller to be a bit frail, maybe even a little weak, but to put himself in the way to help out another fellow champion of the league of legends was noble even for him. Jarvan saw the struggle he was going through and he remained strong throughout it. To him maybe more than just seeing battle could make you strong. He looked at Twisted Fate once more who was also trying to help Fiora, he could see that there was some iron in him. He was a lot tougher than he gave him credit for. Jarvan shook the thoughts from his head, he'd save his questions for the fortune teller later. The more important matter was trying to help Fiora. "What happened here?" asked Jarvan.

"I'm not sure," Twisted Fate responded slowly and rather quietly. Jarvan took note of his tone of voice, it seemed he too was shocked about all this.

"Noxian weapon? Maybe Zaunite?" asked Garen adding his assumptions. As much as Jarvan could trust Garen with his life, his instant assumptions to blame the Noxians also made him realize that he didn't put much thought into it. There had to more to it, because no one would ever think to attack the institute, unless they really didn't want to live anymore. Jarvan just shook his head in response, showing his disappointment in Garen.

"No one is capable of something like that. Technology like that is even out of reach in Piltover. For it to the damage that it did would require an extremely large weapon," said Twisted Fate. "But to attack the League of Legends, someone certainly has a death sentence." He placed his hand on his chin in deep thought. Jarvan was starting to wonder just what else this man was capable. He displayed he may even have a bit of an engineer inside. "It couldn't have been Noxus, why would they attack their own? There were Noxians here in this battle, and those creatures..." Twisted Fate paused for a moment and shuddered. "Disgusting little things. Although they seemed rather determined to kill us. Speaking of..."

The fortune teller walked back over to Fiora. He placed a card on her chest as it started glowing a bright green as he chanted something else in the same language from before. Looking at Fiora some of her smaller injuries started to heal instantaneously. Twisted Fate sighed as the card stopped glowing and his exhaustion starting to show again. "That's all I can do for her."

"Maybe we need to get you some help too," explained Jarvan putting aside his inspection of the fortune teller.

"I've been through worse," said Twisted Fate turning his head from Jarvan. He still tried to hide it from the two men despite both of them reading him like an open book. He was never one for showing weakness, and certainly didn't want to display it front of people he barely knew. Many summoners of the institute labeled him as an assassin for his sly ways. Inside he was very proud of that kind of praise and wanted to keep that image, so for his displaying weakness especially in front of pompous Demacians like them was not an option for him. But fatigue was catching up to him since his magic operated differently than most. Where many just had a natural gift for it, Twisted Fate's was given to him through experimentation. So extended use would naturally leave him drained.

Twisted Fate caught something moving out of the corner of his eye. Remains of those black creatures started to move. His eyes grew wide as they started to collect on a single point. Slowly the black pile started to rise from the ground as it took shape as a giant sized version of those small creatures. After finally taking form it let out a mighty roar catching Jarvan and Garen's attentions too. Each footstep it took towards the group pounded the ground and echoed through the arena. There was no room for them to run, without leaving Fiora, and for them that wasn't an option. They had already gone out of their way to save her and they weren't gonna leave her now. The three men looked each other knowing there was no choice but to fight it. Staring down the creature it shouted one word, "Oracle..."

Twisted Fate had never felt such a chill down his spine before. With a sly grin he'd start the fight with a few cards from his arsenal, as Garen and Jarvan would follow up charging the creature with weapons in hand. The creature swung it's large arm knocking Garen off balance, as Jarvan managed to jam his lance into it's leg. Twisted Fate could only continue the assault with one magical card after another, finally he charged up a card in his hand with a blue eye on it. He threw it with force landing the card clear in the creatures torso causing it to stumble a bit. The creature's stumbling allowed Jarvan to unjam his lance from it's leg. The Demacian prince lept up and swung his weapon to try and cut it's leg, but only for his mighty lance to go through it without a scratch. Looking over Garen tried the same, with the same results. The creature roared again slamming both it's fists down onto the ground knocking both Jarvan and Garen down and sliding at Twisted Fate's feet.

The fortune teller helped both men up, "Look like this thing doesn't like magic," he said with his signature grin on his face. Twisted Fate pulled up another card but this one looked different from his normal ones. At first glance you could tell it was a tarot card normally used for reading fortunes. Jarvan wondered what could Twisted Fate have up his sleeve? Like his previous displays of magic this card also started to glow, only this time it was a bright red. After a few seconds of chanting in the old language a burst of fire came out of the card and hit the creature in the same spot where he threw the blue card. Twisted Fate continued the chanting and assaulted the creature with fireball after fireball from the card. To finish it off he threw the card at the creatures head causing the creature to explode. Even after the creature exploded as the three men watched it's body melt into the ground you could hear it's echos repeating the same word.

Jarvan walked over and picked up Fiora, holding her bridal style. He looked over her body checking her condition. Her injuries were beyond the knowledge of any of the men. Twisted Fate signaled for the other two men to get closer to him, and the two did just that. With one last chant of a spell a ring of card appeared around them sending them off in a flash.

They found themselves back in the grand hall where they started. The grand summoner still there, with the same grin on his face.


	2. The Seed of the Oracle

Author's Note: As I said, I was more than likely going to edit this chapter, and I did. Here's the revised version of Chapter 2. Enjoy! ^^

Rise of the Titan

Chapter 2

The Seed of the Oracle

* * *

The Grand Summoner waved his hand and sent Fiora off to the infirmary where injured champions go to get their wounds checked on. He inspected the three men for a moment. He recognized that they too were exhausted and needed rest. Never before had he seen such bravery in champions to risk their lives for one another. He was happy to see that such teamwork from battle after battle on the fields of justice reflected their need to help one another.

The three men looked at each other, but only silence surrounded them. They wanted to ask the grand summoner what it was that they saw on the Crystal Scar, but like all the champions were always intimidated by one of the grand summoners. Neither one wanted to speak up to grab the answers they seeked. Once more the Grand Summoner red them like an open book,. He could tell how lost in thought they all were. Them and every other champion and summoner in the institute were also just as confused.

"Finally Twisted Fate, the one least expected to, broke the long silence. "It said "Oracle". The old stories, can't be true can it?" Twisted Fate's voice showed a hint of worry in it as he spoke. He was known for always having a cool head and collected train of thoughts, so for him to be the one actually worried about the whole situation meant it could be worse than it actually is. He looked at Jarvan and Garen one more time bowing his head in respect for the two men, "Thanks," he said giving his appreciations to Jarvan and Garen before he took off quickly from the grand hall. Twisted Fate was a prideful man and had a hard time swallowing that if it wasn't for the two Demacian men he wouldn't have survived.

The Demacian men turned their attentions towards the grand summoner. "You two need to rest. The determined looks on your faces tell me you aren't ready to let this go, but even heroes need rest. I will look into this matter with the other summoners," said the grand summoner before motioning Jarvan and Garen off.

They exited the grand hall shutting the large stone doors behind them. Jarvan sat down on the steps in front of the grand hall, removed his helmet, and wiped the sweat that collected off his brow. He remained silent thinking about what it was they had just seen. First the strange black creatures, and then Twisted Fate displaying magic they had never seen before. One surprise after another just kept hitting Jarvan, spreading a wildfire in his mind. He didn't know what to say, for once in his life he didn't know what to do, and the only hint he had was a word, which even then didn't make sense to him. His mind was in such disarray that he didn't even know what to say let alone do. All he could think about was how this was going to affect Demacia, let alone Valoran. Someone actually had the guts to launch an attack against the league of legends. Jarvan's mind was swirling with thoughts of doubt and and fear of the unknown. It wasn't until the young prince felt a very powerful strong armed man punch him in the face to snap him out of it.

Garen sighed in disappointment after punching his crown prince. "This is quite unlike you, Jarvan. Sitting here looking like you're about to cry isn't going to help anyone. Lets just find Twisted Fate and see what information we could get out of him. The worst thing that can happen is he teleports away from us." Jarvan looked up at his faithful royal guard and smiled Garen always seem to have the right words at the right time. The prince picked up his helm putting it neatly back on his head before getting up from the stone steps.

Just as they were going to make their way to find the rogue gypsy he approached the two with a thick leather bound book in his hand. With the way his nose was buried into the book meant he really wanted to get to the bottom of this matter with deep research. Twisted Fate despite being face down with all his attentions to the book he managed to stop right in front of the gold clad warrior mumbling what he was reading to himself. Finally he looked up at Jarvan hastily flipping through the pages of the book looking for a certain page he came across. Finally coming to a stop with the page he needed he, without any words shoved the book in Jarvan's hand. "You see, it's just like the old stories they used to tell us as children," started the fortune teller. "The legend of the Seed of the Oracle."

Jarvan looked up at Twisted Fate raising an eyebrow, his excited tone of voice was rather off for someone like him. He looked back at the book reading the page that Twisted Fate was so excited to find. Jarvan skimmed through the page curious about what the gypsy was on to. The book read that the Seed of the Oracle was an ancient power that get passed down from generation to generation for 700 years. Once the 700 years were up a fearsome creature called the Titan raises from it's slumber to destroy all life on Runeterra and replants the seeds of life. Before going back to sleep he gives a piece of it's power to one of those seeds. That is what they call the Oracle. Jarvan snapped the book shut handing it to Garen. "You think this is the reason why someone has the guts to attack the League of Legends."

Twisted Fate, with half a mind to give Jarvan one of his signature gold cards to his face, merely sighed. One of his many childhood stories was just shot down by the snotty Demacian prince. "You heard those creatures," spoke Twisted Fate and he took the book back from Garen. "I highly doubt that the Institute would hold books that were just all old folklore. There must be some truths behind it. They tell similar stories in the major tribes of Freljord. What makes things more ironic that Ashe was on the Crystal Scar with me when it happened."

Jarvan and Garen looked at each other and then back at the fortune teller, wondering just where he keeps his vast knowledge of information. There had to be more about the Seed of the Oracle than just a passage from a book and an old story passed down. The two Demacians had the same thing on their minds, and that was wanting to get to the bottom of this. Just why would someone attack the League of Legends and try and break the peace that the summoners has tried to set out for them? There was so many unanswered questions, that just sent their minds spinning in circles. Jarvan had an idea, that just might work. Now feeling the same energy that Twisted Fate had, Jarvan motioned for the fortune teller and his childhood friend to follow him.

Upon entering of the largest room of the Institute, Jarvan proceeded to search the library leaving Garen and Twisted Fate behind and a little dumbfounded. Finally collecting themselves Garen turned his attentions to the rouge gypsy in hopes he could get some answers of his own. A mysterious man like Twisted Fate now going out of his way to defend people and lend his expertise. To Garen, Twisted Fate always looked like a man who would want something in return, but he was openly helping them. It was time he got what he wanted out of the other man. He approached Twisted Fate and got an eyebrow raised at him return. Garen inspected the man's posture and could already tell the lithe man was unamused.

"Where do you find such information?" asked the Demacian guard, and he only got the same response. Garen was a little upset himself that Twisted Fate would give him the cold shoulder but not Jarvan. "Okay then...how do you know so much? You've already displayed a magic not practiced by many because of it's instability, and you've shown a signs of knowledge as if you've been studying engineering in Piltover. Just who are you Twisted Fate?"

At first all you heard was a small noise erupt from Twisted Fate, as he lowered his hat. His small noises erupted into a chuckle, and soon fortune teller was into a fit of laughter mocking Garen. The Demacian royal guard actually expected him just to tell him who he was; to just give him all his secrets just because he demanded it. Where Twisted Fate comes from it doesn't work that way. You have to work for the information you want and then some. Sometimes you may end up doing things you're not exactly proud of but, in the shady world of the underground you'll never regret it in the end. For the rogue gypsy he made his earnings when he partnered with Malcom Graves and ran the underground gambling circuits of Noxus and Demacia, so when Garen started demanding things from him like he was another servant of his noble court, Twisted Fate was not too pleased. Like a gust of wind the fortune teller lept up giving Garen a swift kick to his temple knocking him against the bookshelf, dropping a few leather bound books to the ground, and another swift kick from his right leg sent Garen to the ground along side those books. With a sly grin, Twisted Fate placed a foot on Garen's chest leaning down and holding a bright glowing gold card in front of his face. The Demacian noble saw the assassin's look in his eye and could understand now why despite being cool and calm head that he was, he was still a feared champion of the League of Legends.

Before Twisted Fate could open his mouth and tell Garen his mistake, they were interrupted by Jarvan's return, with a snickering Ezreal behind him. The young explorer always thought Garen had what was coming to him, but never thought he'd be put down by the lithe figure that is Twisted Fate. Ezreal's snickers and chuckles were interrupted Jarvan's voice. "Are you two done playing around?" he asked.

Garen gave a huff of annoyance after being let up by Twisted Fate. He rubbed his temple where the fortune teller had kicked him and looked over at him only to see that Twisted Fate had his hat tipped down hiding his grin. Both he and Garen knew that if they were going to solve this, they were going to have to work together. Garen was the type of strong arm they needed to fight their way through, and Twisted Fate was the kind of brains they needed to obtain the right information. Twisted Fate just had to show Garen not to overstep his boundaries if he was going to play "happy adventurers" with them. Garen turned his attentions to Jarvan who continued his conversation with the young blonde asking if he possibly knew anything about what had happened to Ashe. He kept a close eye on Twisted Fate paying very little attention to what Jarvan and Ezreal had to say to each other. He started to feel rather uneasy the more his attentions drove itself away from his crown prince, but as his attention was slowly dragged away his eyes grew wide at the sight his eyes laid upon.

Twisted Fate had a strong grip on his left arm as it shook uncontrollably, he could barely maintain the grip he had on the card in his hand. Garen tilted his head as to what was going on, as for the fortune teller he felt strange things happening to him. His eyes showed him blood that dripped down his arm and a felt a thick black vein slowly creeping up his neck. These nightmares had been happening since he had first joined the league and had been the reason why he's always kept a steady distance from every champion and summoners as well, but as of late the nightmares had been getting worse and could see them while he was wide awake. What was happening to him he wondered, he'd never tell.

When everything was gone suddenly and his arm stopped shaking he looked up at Garen who was dumbfounded as to what he had just seen. Like Garen before he huffed and took off from the library with his long coat trailing behind him. The Demacian guard bent down and picked up the card Twisted Fate had dropped. The card had a picture of a compass on a wheel with a sword in the center pointed upwards. Around the picture was a beautiful decoration of golden vines and a scroll at the bottom that read "The Wheel of Fortune". "He gets more mysterious by the minute," Garen mumbled to himself. "Just what is happening?"

"Garen!" shouted Jarvan getting his attention. Jarvan looked around discovering they were one man short. Jarvan sighed to himself shaking his head in disappointment, already mentally telling himself that this was going to be a long road. He turned back to Ezreal finishing his business with the young man. "Take care of yourself Ezreal, and thank you for all your help." Ezreal bowed his head in respect of the prince. His opinions having completely changed about the prince. He thought all Demacians (except for a lovely looking blonde light mage) were all snotty and probably don't get out much of their fancy manors but he was completely wrong.

The Demacian prince approached Garen still a little disappointed but it subsided quickly knowing that there were more things to be concerned about. Just as swordsman was about to open his mouth to say something he was immediately interrupted by Jarvan. "Just because it's not Demacian, doesn't mean it can't be trusted," sighing Jarvan continued, "And besides the fortune teller is the only lead we have right now as to what those creatures are." Garen nodded, he knew not to question Jarvan's judgement, so he just hung his head a little in response.

Jarvan and Garen walked out of the library to see that the fortune teller was just standing by the doorway. The prince gave a sigh of relief having thought that his faithful companion had scared away their only guide. Jarvan started to wonder why Twisted Fate was so willing to help them despite being the type who likes to keep his distance. Did he want a reward in the end? That wouldn't surprise the prince in the least if thats what it was. He didn't know much about the history of the fortune teller but he did seem like the shady type. The only stories he knew about the gypsy clans of Valoran were that they've been around since before the Lightshield dynasty started.

Twisted Fate pushed himself off the wall he had his back against and held out his hand to Garen. The Demacian soldier quickly took note of this and handed the rouge gypsy his one of many precious cards. The Card Master fumbled with it though his fingers before one last flick of the wrist and letting it mysteriously disappear. Garen didn't let himself get too attached to lithe man's actions and turned his attentions back towards Jarvan.

Jarvan looked to see that he had the attentions of both men and cleared his throat. "According to Ezreal, rumors have it Ashe didn't return from the Crystal Scar, nor is she in the Institute any more. Apparently she was grabbed by bandits only a few hours ago while we were fighting on the Crystal Scar. To get her help we must first help her."

"There's got to be more to it. I highly doubt the Queen of Freljord would just be nabbed by simple bandits," responded Twisted Fate as he pulled a card of the top of a deck of cards, in which to both Demacian men mysteriously appeared. Jarvan and Garen watched him as he inspected the card for a moment. Planted on his face was another mischievous grin followed by a light chuckle before lifting his hat a moment to get a view of the taller men and their reactions. He said nothing but merely stared at the two Demacian men. "There's gonna be a storm." He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and proceeded down the hall. Jarvan and Garen looked at one another and the hastily looked out the window near by, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.


	3. A Bloody Nightmare

Author's Note: Okay, so here's finally chapter 3. So the reason why this took so long was because I had probably rewritten this chapter about 3-4 times before I was finally settled on something. I'm so sorry this took forever, I hope you all like it.

Rise of the Titan

Chapter 3

A Bloody Nightmare

* * *

According to the information presented to Jarvan by Ezreal, Ashe was hauled off to a bandit camp by an abandoned water mill over on the far western outskirts of Noxus. It was going to be a days worth of travel but for the three champions that was not an issue in the slightest. They knew that if said bandits were smart they wouldn't harm even a single hair on her if they didn't want the wrath of the summoners to come down upon their heads. Since the Institute of War was in complete disarray they knew they couldn't rely on the summoners for any assistance, this was something they had to do completely on their own, but rescuing the beautiful Queen Ashe is their top priority. She is the only lead they had at the moment to discovering what those creatures that attacked the Crystal Scar was. To kidnap the Queen of Freljord was very bold of these bandits, it was like asking for a deathwish, just as much as whoever attacked the League of Legends also wanted one. As night fell, they were closer to their destination and the bandit camp just over the horizon only indicated by a small glow from a bonfire.

Twisted Fate grew bored of Jarvan and Garen's extensive planning of how to hit the bandit camp so he wandered off to think thoughts in his own way. He couldn't remember what it was like to have real allies, after all he had betrayed the last one he had. Suddenly his mind started to wander. He was starting to wonder; where was Malcom Graves? Staring up at the stars he closed his eyes still thinking about everything that happened so far. He stabbed Graves in the back and felt that he really didn't deserve to be rescued by Garen and Jarvan. Maybe they did it to save Fiora? His thoughts slowly made him drift into a small nap as the hard ground had started to feel soft and his arms that were tucked behind his head began to feel comfy.

Jarvan and Garen had probably gone on for hours not noticing that Twisted Fate had left their presence. It didn't bother the Demacian prince too much, he was confident that the gypsy could handle himself. For now he had to focus back on the task at hand. The bandit camp down below in the valley of hills they stood upon seemed quite fortified. The prince had stood still staring and analyzing the task that had lied before them. How were they going to get in with everything looking like they had it on lock down? There was an awkward silence in the air for neither man had spoken for a while. Jarvan stood almost like a statue wondering as Garen stared at him with a hint of worry on his face. A few minutes had passed as both of them remained as statues until Garen finally spoke up.

"What about Twisted Fate?" he asked. Jarven broke his thoughts and turned towards his companion with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't sure how to respond to Garen's words. "Well, he can teleport himself places," Garen went on explaining his thoughts to Jarvan. "Remember how he teleported all of us out of the Crystal Scar?" Jarvan's eyes lit up to the idea, although the idea might be stretching Twisted Fate's want to help them but it was the only thing they had. Jarvan couldn't come up with anything that didn't require an army, and right now he needed as little damage caused especially if he didn't want to bring any harm to the queen. Jarvan had looked around for a second realized that Twisted Fate was gone.

_Twisted Fate slowly opened his eyes the sound of rushing water. He explored his surroundings to see that he some how managed to find himself up on a beach and standing knee deep in ocean water. He remembered seeing this place before and it was nothing new. To the west was the same lighthouse atop a cliff and to the east was endless beach, and right in front of him was the usual sunset that was stuck in place, that painted the sky pink. Giving a deep sigh he stood in place staring up at the lighthouse counting the seconds go by. The seconds became minutes and suddenly it felt like hours standing there staring at the lighthouse. "She'll be here soon." he told himself. _

_Never had she kept him waiting like this. In this odd place in his dreams he always ran into a woman, in a white dress. It was the same deal every time he was here, and he figured it'd be no different. As he waited staring at the lighthouse and it's bright rotating light, it's light became black and that was the sign that she'd be here soon. He looked down as the water he stood in became red. Every time the water had turned red he had to reach down and touch it. How it felt, how it flowed, it wasn't water anymore...it was blood. Knowing this, touching it sent shivers down Twisted Fate's spine._

_He looked around once more and on queue there she was, the mysterious woman of his dreams...or nightmare. The woman was slender, and walked slowly across the sand towards him in the sea of blood. She wore a long elegant white dress that dragged across the coarse sand and over her head was a matching hood that hid her eyes and hair and only showed her lips that were always ruby red. In her hands she carried a thorny black rose, he had always wondered if the thorns had hurt. She walked right up to him into the sea with a grin on her face. She took one hand up to his face moving the strands of his dark hair covering his ear. Slowly she whispered some ancient language to him, and repeated it to him over and over until slowly he could feel himself going mad over the words. He looked down as blood started flowing down his arm and he felt something crawling up his arm and reaching his face, and soon following he felt it all over his body. Her words kept repeating over and over echoing around him. Each time the words repeated they got louder and louder, he even placed his hand on his ears to try and keep himself from hearing them any further knocking his hat right off his head to be carried away by the red sea. His vision became blurred and the only thing he could make out was her smirk. How deep down she loved the fact he was suffering so much. He just wanted it to stop, he could feel that black vein crawling all over his body and felt like it was gonna burst out of him. He couldn't take it anymore, he was in so much pain!_

Within a second it was all over. He sat up in a cold sweat realizing what had just happened. It was the same as before, and he had been having these nightmares ever since the operation. Twisted Fate brought his arm up and wiped the sweat that had collected on his brow. He knew the nightmares were a sign though. He could still hear the words of the woman echoing for a few more seconds before they finally faded. The fortune teller had always understood what the nightmares meant though. By now the words of the woman was burned into his head, and he repeated the same thing she had said to him. He said it to himself over and over until he could say it with no mistakes. He pulled out a card and said the words again. He watched the card glow a pale blue as it shot a bolt of ice at a near by rock freezing it solid. He stood up completely and picked up his hat which had fallen off his head during his nap and brushed the dust off of it before placing it back on his head. He headed back in the direction he had left Garen and Jarvan acting as if nothing has just happened. As he returned he thought about telling the two Demacian men about the origins of his fast evolving magic but at the same time he didn't think they'd understand. Who would trust a man who backstabbed someone he once called a friend? Twisted Fate shook the thoughts from his head and tipped his hat down. He didn't want to show more weakness to them. Feeling vulnerable was the last thing he wanted during all the confusion.

Jarvan was the first to notice Twisted Fate's return. It had been a couple hours since they had taken a survey of the area. Everyone still seemed at a loss about how to approach the situation. Silence fell on the three of them as they avoid the gaze of one another. The breeze of the cool autumn air hung heavy around them as they all tried to get words out, to express their feelings about the whole thing. Jarvan's gaze slowly shifted back to Twisted Fate as his eyes met. The two looked at one another seeing the one had something to say to the other, but Jarvan knew better than to try and force something out of someone he hardly knew.

"We may have idea to sneak in there," started Jarvan. Twisted Fate lifted his hat some to show Jarvan that he was listening. "We remembered how you teleported us out Crystal Scar, we were thinking if you could possibly port us in there as long as we can get close to Ashe."

Twisted Fate looked back and forth between Garen and Jarvan and raised an eyebrow. He already didn't like to use his magic to help others not knowing just how unstable they can be, and already working with others wasn't exactly his strong suit. He wasn't even sure if he could control his new spell or not often times he couldn't without secluding himself for hours even away from his summoner. Deep down he didn't want to admit to Jarvan that he wanted to figure out what was going on. The only thing he had left was the League of Legends, the only place where his magic could be any use. He looked to the side thinking about it for a moment. He looked back at Jarvan slowly nodding. "Lets scout out the area more, I'd like to get us to as close to Ashe as possible," Twisted Fate responded sharing his thoughts.

The three of them headed more east following the camp. The three noticed that what looked like a storage in the back, it was the least guarded area and it would be easy for them to sneak into there unnoticed, but they couldn't find a sign of Ashe. As they looked Garen noticed a woman in the middle of the camp talking to some, but it looked like to him she was the one giving the orders as the two she was talking to ran off. Garen's eyes followed them as they spoke to two more and those two ran off. Garen turned his attentions back to the woman wondering just what kind of a woman she was. She was an in an elegant white dress with her head covered by a hood. He grabbed the attentions of the other two pointing her out.

Upon setting his eyes upon her, Twisted Fate froze. How could someone from his dreams be real? Without anymore hesitation or a word he grabbed Jarvan and Garen's wrists and teleported the three of them in a ring of cards to the unguarded storage area of the camp. The Demacian men looked at one another in confusion by Twisted Fate's hasty decision. The gypsy took point behind some crates watching some more bandits walk by. After he was out of sight he looked around one more time to see that the coast was clear moving forward behind some barrels where he was listening on a couple of the bandits talking to one another. With they way the two spoke it sounded like they weren't really bright, and made Twisted Fate wonder about how just how a heroine like Queen Ashe could be captured by them.

"Just how long do we have to hold her?" asked the strong arm bandit to a skinnier one. Twisted Fate inspected the first one. He looked like he was all brawn and no brains just a typical muscle man these camps tend to have as enforcers to keep people in line.

The skinnier bandit spoke up, "I think the boss only agreed to this job was for the fact that we're getting paid a good sum for this." The two bandits shook their heads to one another. It seemed like even they were confused about this whole ordeal. "Attacking the Institute and having us kidnap the Queen of Freljord, this is asking for a death sentence."

Twisted Fate saw Garen and Jarvan coming towards him out of the corner of his eye. and held his hand up from coming any closer. Instead Twisted Fate held up a card and chanted his new spell turning the two bandits into solid ice in place. He put his hand down and signaled for Jarvan and Garen to come closer. He turned towards the two, "These men are only hired hands, and even they have doubts. We need to find who's in charge, they'll have the answers."

Jarvan noticed that worry in Twisted Fate's voice again, he knew something had the gypsy shaken. The Demacian prince took a second to look at Garen who looked like he had a lot on his mind. The two were obviously lost in deep thought just wanting to get to the bottom of this, even Jarvan wanted his questions answered. But he also knew that getting this solved wasn't going to be an easy task. They weren't going to get any answers right away. The air around them was gloomy and he was getting tired of this dreary mood that constantly lingered around them. He gave a deep sigh before raising both his arms and delivered a punch to the face to both men catching both their attentions.

"I know this is eating away at both of you," started Jarvan. "But looking for a quick way out isn't going to solve anything either. The more we dwell on this the more we let our enemy get one more step ahead of us. This isn't a time for hesitation, this is a time to act. We've had plenty of time to think and be scared of the dangers that lie ahead. I too have my own worries and concerns to the unknown that lies before us, but I also know when is it a time to slow down." Twisted Fate nor Garen spared Jarvan a glance after his speech, for both men knew he was right. There wasn't going to be an easy way to solve this, and rushing recklessly would only get them killed. If that were to happen what then? Who would save Ashe and who would try to get to the bottom of this attack on the Institute?

Jarvan pointed ahead and saw a tent that was heavily guarded by two large men. He figured that must be where they're holding Ashe. They watched for a while before noticing the woman in the white dress wave the guard away before walking into the tent herself. Twisted Fate felt himself get heated only to have Jarvan's hand placed on his shoulder shaking his head. Garen caught the attentions of the other two pointing out another place to hide out that could bring them closer to the tent. They moved quickly to the next set of crates to their left being careful to avoid the sight of anyone, and together they continued to move closer until eventually they were right behind the tent. They listened into the conversation that was going on.

The three listened carefully only catching a little bit of what was going on. But they didn't hear anything they didn't already know. So far they had only heard a woman's voice also go on about the legend of the seed of the oracle. There was no response from the one she was talking to and they watched as the woman's silhouette disappeared from the tent. The three moved in closer sneaking into the tent before being noticed and the guard moving back into their own positions.

To their surprise Jarvan was right, there was the queen herself. Her hands and ankles were bound by rope and there was only a small glint of life in her eyes. It had been days since the attack and since anyone had seen her. They could only imagine what horror has happened to her in that time. Using his sword Garen cut the rope that had her bound and Twisted Fate started channeling the same healing spell he had used on Fiora only a few days back. Her wounds weren't as bad as the ones that Fiora had received that day but Jarvan still wondered what the gypsy could do for her. After a few minutes of tending to Ashe's wounds the life returned to her eyes and she was shocked to see who had saved her.

Ashe was about to open her mouth before Jarvan looked at her and placed a finger over his lips signaling her to quiet down. She looked past him to see Twisted Fate taking a peek out the entrance to see that the guard hadn't moved and there seemed to be a crowd collecting. The four seemed to hold their breath for a second before the gypsy told them it was clear and the crowd had cleared. "I can't get us out of here," he whispered, through his heavy breaths.

Jarvan inspected the gypsy up and down and noticed that he did seem like he was getting tired. He couldn't imagine the kind of power that it took to teleport multiple people on top of that he had to tend to Ashe's wounds. He could only hope Twisted Fate wasn't pushing himself as he did last time on the Crystal Scar. Although the situation was dire, he wasn't going to ask Twisted Fate to strain himself. There had to be other means of escape. His thoughts were quickly interrupted when Ashe took a grip on his arm. Jarvan looked down at her and saw the fear in her eyes. Whatever they had done to her or whatever it was she had seen must have been terrible. The Demacian prince shifted so that she could sit up and lean against him, he placed a hand over hers to try and assure her everything would be okay.

Twisted Fate continued to quietly keep watch before Ashe's voice had caught his attention. "That woman," she spoke, keeping her voice down so that the guards outside couldn't hear her. "She has strange magic. She made me see terrible visions," As Ashe spoke she clutched onto Jarvan's arm more and her arm shook rapidly. "She showed me visions of a creature destroying everything in it's path."

"The Titan," said Twisted Fate turning towards Ashe and Jarvan. "Those things that attacked the Crystal Scar might have something to do with the Seed of the Oracle."

Ashe eased her grip that she had on Jarvan's arm turning her full attentions to the fortune teller, "Those are just stories. You don't think the Seed of the Oracle is real do you?" Twisted Fate didn't respond but instead looked at the ground along with Ashe. The stories that both of them had heard were obviously very similar.

Garen looked back and forth between the two before speaking up, "How did this happen to you anyway? Weren't you on the Crystal Scar as well? Surely they must have a reason to kidnap the Queen of Freljord."

"That woman did this to me. These bandits are merely hired hands," responded Ashe.

"To attack the League of Legends on the day two champions who know about the Seed of the Oracle happen to be on the fields of justice," Jarvan started. He looked at Ashe and then back at Twisted Fate who attentions were still towards the ground. With the information from Ashe, Jarvan was starting to piece together things little by little. Although he started to wonder just why they'd take Ashe but not the gypsy. He let his thought dwell on this for a moment. The attack on the Institute, and kidnapping Ashe...he began to wonder just where Twisted Fate fit in this puzzle. There had to be something he was missing. He started to wonder just what was his place in all this madness, and why he was so eager to help them at the first moment of trouble. He didn't know much about him, but it was about time he started to get to know him. He felt there was something the fortune teller wasn't telling him.


End file.
